CT 2017 – DAY 5 – Winnipeg – August 20

I think Alea and I got up before anyone. We packed our personals and had our respective showers. Jakki and Bob prepared a lovely oatmeal bar for breakfast. I mixed the Lucky charms with it. We chatted a bit, did a spot of Internet work and got ready to leave. We had a six hour drive ahead. Trying to find better packing methods for the van everytime, I think I’m nearing something comfortable. We signed the guest book of the house and got a bunch of pictures. Victoria took the first drive. Her and Alea actually drove the whole way. I felt groggy and needed air flow and space but I knew I wasn’t getting that anytime soon. My body and mind just weren’t in good places. Been combatting that a lot lately. Still feel strange, like I did before tour. I tried to preoccupy myself with video games on the tablet but that probably made me more uncomfortable and nauseous. I tried to sleep away the annoyance. I think that led to my awful/no sleep later on. I was in an irritated state. Absolutely. I don’t remember much except being annoyed and frustrated. We did arrive in Winnipeg like an hour before load in. Went to our accomodation first and dropped off our personals. Right down the road from the venue was a good vegan burger place. I wasn’t in a great mood but I was trying my best to turn it around. We ordered some burgers and I ate like a monster. Felt gross still and the canker sores in my mouth weren’t helping. Finishing up, we walked to our van and loaded in the venue, meeting the other bands inside. Immediately caught my eye on the huge drum kit we we were sharing and how low everything was, that proved difficult to groove on but I made it work. The room was really nice, it better be with a room fee on tour – haha. We were nervous that no one would come because it was the weekend of two festivals and Broken Social Scene. We had about 31 people show though which means we just broke the room fee and a bit. Nerve-racking night. Michelle of Trampoline was cool and so exciting to watch. Trampoline played a long set, which was a good thing. They were really impressive. I saw Carey J Buss actually came out, he was nice and genuine. And stoked. Trampoline was excellent and together. We loaded up next and tore right through a 35 minute or so set, instead of the 45 minutes that we had. Was nervous about that too. The crowd was reasonably full by then though and people seemed to dig it. The drums were an adjustment. I felt good about my solo. Was proud of that. They’ve been decent on this tour so far, but sometimes I just can’t. I really liked Basic Nature’s songs. They have a great two piece vibe going on and I appreciate their use of dynamics. I definitely know that we need to stop booking shows on Sundays. I spoke with the guy from Real Love Winnipeg too, he did door for us after he got back from the Rainbow Trout Music Festival. Hope we can make something work with them next time. We drove back to our accommodation down the block after settling. I stayed up for a while on my phone writing journals and social media, I think. Cleaned up late into the night and laid down to try and sleep eventually. I did not sleep. I dozed in and out for a while. Woke up every time the cat opened the door with its face and just tossed and turned all night. Can’t believe I made it to morning. Was awful and I was sore.